Daegu Zombie Run 2017

So if you, like us, get terribly excited when the word ‘zombies’ is mentioned, then you are going to need to check out the next Zombie Run near you! We were lucky enough to get tickets to this year’s Daegu Zombie Run, held on July 29th at Daegu World Cup Stadium. Zombie Runs can be found all over the world in various formats, in fact we narrowly missed out on participating in one in Johannesburg just before we left South Africa. Some Zombie Runs allow you to choose whether you will participate as a zombie or a survivor, however, in Korea, you always play the survivor. You receive a t-shirt, ‘survival kit’, including name tag (you have to make up a character name), stickers (yay!), life tags, and because it is the height of Summer here, a fan 🙂

The concept was great: Daegu stadium was transformed into a ‘field hospital’ that has been overrun by zombies. Actors in army gear shouted instructions at us, and gave us guidance for completing each challenge that lay ahead. I think there was something particularly eerie about doing the run in a foreign language, as half the time we had no idea what was going on, and for me this actually added to the fear and adrenaline of the experience! Luckily there were some kind souls who translated for us along the way so that we weren’t immediately eaten alive:)

Some of the challenges were straight up sprints where our group of around 30 people had to dash and duck and spin around what seemed like endless corridors of zombies. You are provided with a belt to which you attach you 3 lifelines that dangle precariously as you run, and these are what the zombies lunge for. The idea is that once your three lives are up, you are dead, although I don’t think you get pulled out of the race, you just don’t get the bragging rights of saying you survived.

Now for a non-runner like myself, the idea of sprinting for half an hour is awful! So luckily the run also had challenges I could do well in, such as having to pretend to be a zombie, or having to play a particularly terrifying version of ‘grandmother’s footsteps’, freezing in between dashes to creepy music. We thought we had finished the race, when around 25 minutes in we emerged into the dusk for selfies with the zombies, but alas there was still another sprint to go! By the time we reached the actual finish, I was properly, nauseatingly, tired, but thoroughly hyped on adrenaline. Although I was at no point losing my mind in terror, I will admit to having a little trouble falling asleep that night, as I remembered the intensity of running through lunging zombies with 30 people screaming around you, watching people getting caught left and right. It was like being in an indie zombie movie:)

The Zombie Run ends in a mini festival, part of the 14th Daegu Horror Festival, where some much needed alcohol and food can be consumed. There were some great dance and music performances going on as well, and an EDM party for those that weren’t as tired as us oldies. Perhaps the creepiest moment of the whole night was on our way home, where we entered a completely empty subway station. As I waited for Chris to make a bathroom stop, the escalators right next to me started up, and no one was on them! I nearly ran right into the boys bathroom!

I would highly recommend the Zombie Run and the Horror festival, not only for creepy Zombie lovers, but also just as a really fun night out with friends. You can even pay a little extra and get some zombie makeup done to really complete your look!

Zombie Runs happen in Daegu, Busan, and Seoul, and you can keep an eye out on the facebook page here. Tickets are around 36000 won, with various early-bird rates. The Daegu Horror Festival is also awesome, with performances, VR experiences and markets. You can check out the Daegu Festival program here.

Getting to Daegu Stadium: Take the green line to Damti (exit 3). Get on the 939 bus (8 stops), it will drop you off right in front of the stadium!